• The Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin ** (of 4)

    A British literature professor returns to her ancestor’s home in Jerusalem to uncover the story of her family and unravel the mystery of ancient Hebrew texts hidden in the attic. The book is well crafted and the ancestors are full of quirks and personality, but in the end the book felt too much like a thinly veiled autobiography written by a British literature professor returning to her ancestor’s home to write a book about her family. I didn’t quite care enough. November 2007.

  • Betrothed by S.Y. Agnon *** (of 4)

    A wonderful little novella that I listened to on tape about a botanist who arrives in Palestine in 1909 (I think) is quickly surrounded by six lovely and lovable Jewish women and his abiding love for his childhood sweetheart.

  • Beaufort by Ron Leshem **** (of 4)

    Erez, a patriotic IDF commander of 13 fresh recruits, is sent to Lebanon in the late 90s to protect Israel’s northern border from Hezbollah rocket attacks. What begins as a group of gung-ho, post high-school roustabouts on a clear mission descends into the heart of darkness as the reason for Israel’s being in Lebanon disintegrates and the soldiers do too. One of the finest written descriptions of the pride of being part of a group of men whose lives depend on one another followed by the creeping development of post-traumatic stress disorder. May 2008.

  • Betrothed by S.Y. Agnon

    A wonderful little novella that I listened to on tape about a botanist who arrives in Palestine in 1909 (I think) is quickly surrounded by six lovely and lovable Jewish women and his abiding love for his childhood sweetheart.

  • The Attack by Yasmina Khadra **** (of 4)

    The Arab wife of a Bedouin Israeli physician straps a bomb to her waist and blows up a restaurant where Israeli children are celebrating a birthday party. The shocked physician, after performing emergency surgery on the survivors, embarks on an investigation to learn how his wife arrived at her decision. Khadra makes us compare the life of a successful Arab doctor, feted by Israeli establishment, his wife who has been given everything by her husband’s success except the capacity to live fully freely in Israeli society. Khadra’s entrance into the minds of suicide bombers emerges clearly even after the book has been translated from its original French. March 2007.